The fifth day of the fifth month of May is the emperor's birthday.

In the Ming Dynasty, down to the people, up to the royal family, will set up fasting on this day to offer monks, go to the temple to exceed, worship, and wish the living relatives a long life.

Hoji Temple is a royal temple dedicated to court rituals, located in the northeast of the capital.

On this day, a group of royal children and civil and military officials drove together, followed the emperor's chariot and walked on foot, and saw the pagoda towering from a distance, and the golden light of the sunrise sprinkled on the spire of the tower, enveloping the whole temple majestic and solemn.

When they arrived at Faji Temple, the emperor's car fell to the ground, and the Imperial Forest Army opened the way, leading everyone all the way to the temple dojo.

The dojo in the temple is arranged openly, in the middle of a several zhang long altar neatly placed offerings, in front of a huge bronze sacrificial tripod, which is full of incense ash, standing next to the Faji Temple monk Wuxi, and several outstanding monks under his name.

The golden bell rang, there were three clear sounds, the emperor took the three pillars of fine incense from the monks, and worshiped the heavens according to the eulogy in the mouth of the master without desire, and then it was the turn of the emperors in the rear, after worshipping one, exiting one, and entering another.

Halfway through the ceremony, several princes accompanied the emperor to rest in the side hall next to the Daxiong Treasure Hall. The emperor was drinking tea with a teacup in his hand, when he suddenly heard a loud noise, the emperor was stunned and looked out of the door. Then there was a loud noise, and one after another approached the temple gate.

The emperor frowned and put down the teacup.

"What's the sound outside?"

"The minion is going to ask." Grandpa An left in a hurry.

After a while, Gonggong An came from outside in a panic with the left commander of the Imperial Forest Army: "Your Majesty, there are a large number of unknown officers and soldiers outside the Faji Temple, and the Faji Temple is surrounded by water, and they also used black powder, and the Royal Forest Army outside our temple has suffered heavy casualties. ”

Several princes stood up one after another when they heard this, and looked out of the door with panicked expressions.

"Commander Zuo, quickly escort my father down the mountain." The second prince drew the sword in his waist and blocked it in front of the emperor.

"Father, let the sons and daughters escort you through the back door first." Although his legs could not walk, the third prince also stepped forward.

"Father...... I'm afraid. The fifth and sixth princes, who were still young, hugged the guard's legs and drilled straight back in fright.

"Afraid of what? I want to see who is so bold as to break ground on Tai Sui's head. ”

"Father's ......"

The emperor waved his hand, stopped the words of the second prince, and went up to the second floor of the side hall under the escort of the Imperial Forest Army.

As soon as the princes saw that the emperor had gone up, it was not easy for them to go first, so they had to follow one by one.

Standing on the platform, condescendingly, I saw a team of officers and soldiers forcing up the mountain gate, and a burly middle-aged man stepped forward majestically surrounded by everyone.

"King Ping? Sure enough, it's you. A chill appeared in the emperor's eyes.

King Ping paused three feet away from the emperor, put his hands behind his back, and smiled almost arrogantly and contemptuously.

"After many years of separation, my brother misses the emperor very much. The emperor ruthlessly refused to let his younger brother return to Beijing, and his younger brother only came uninvited. ”

"No recall, King Ping, are you guilty?" The emperor's voice was not loud, but it was majestic and powerful.

"The younger brother naturally knew that it was a big crime to return to Beijing without recall, but the younger brother had to go back."

"Oh? What can make King Ping ignore the law of Da Ming and defy the law? The emperor pulled the placket of his shirt and looked at King Ping with great interest.

The emperor's expression made King Ping very unhappy. He has no recall to Beijing, and he has old grudges with the emperor, it is said that the emperor should be surprised and angry, how can he be so calm?

King Ping cleared his throat, looked at the princes around the emperor, large and small, who were afraid, and said disdainfully:

"The emperor's dragon chair has been sitting for more than 20 years, and the princes under him are either of bad character or disabled, and they can't handle it, so I think it's time for someone else to sit on it."

The smile on the emperor's face slowly disappeared, and there was disappointment in his eyes as he stared at King Ping.

"You dare to raise private soldiers and want to take my throne?"

King Ping snorted and smiled: "Your throne? Don't forget, my father was like me in the first place. If I hadn't given up, how could you be worthy of that position? ”

"King Ping, my father wanted you to sit on the dragon chair, but unfortunately you are not in Jiangshan Sheji, how can my father rest assured that he will hand it over to you? If the people of Taiping are healthy today, but you collude with foreign countries to support the rebellion, you are not afraid that your father and the emperor will know that you can't sleep at night? ”

As soon as the emperor's voice fell, King Ping's expression was obviously stiff: In the end, the emperor still knew about Di Guo. But then he put on a tough face and shouted:

"Don't talk nonsense, now that you're trapped in this monastery, either you take the initiative to give way to me, or don't blame me for killing with no regard for brotherhood."

"Want the throne? I'd like to see how you can get it. The emperor looked down at King Ping without fear, as if staring at a clown who jumped off the beam.

King Ping's killing intent has risen, he took a step back, and with a wave of his hand, several henchmen and generals drew their swords and suddenly appeared angrily, and took two hundred Ping Wangfu guards to kill the side hall.

Yu Shilong, the president of the Imperial Forest Army, was calm and calm, and with an order, dozens of Imperial Forest Army rushed out of the palace to fight with the personal guards of King Ping who rushed up.

King Ping stepped back and ordered in a loud voice: "Don't fall in love with the war, fight quickly." ”

Although King Ping is far superior to the emperor in terms of numbers, but in the end it is the capital, and there will be variables at any time.

Half an hour later, the face of King Ping, who was watching the battle in the rear, changed, and the Royal Forest Army killed more and more, constantly pouring in from everywhere. And the guards of the Pingwang Mansion brought by himself were killed and retreated, and they were about to be expelled from the mountain gate.

Looking at the emperor again, he was sitting on a chair that Father-in-law An had moved for him with a teacup and drinking tea leisurely, watching the two teams of people fight under his nose like watching a play.

"What's going on?" King Ping asked.

Didn't you say that the emperor only brought a hundred personal soldiers?

He Qian, a cronie around him, was also confused.

"Back to the prince, maybe...... Maybe our information is wrong. ”

"When will the soldiers and horses outside the city arrive?"

"Back to the prince, our elite soldiers outside the city have arrived at the bottom of the mountain." He Qian replied in a low voice.

King Ping's tightly locked brows stretched slightly, and as soon as the reinforcements arrived, Faji Temple was surrounded by regiments, and he was not afraid that he would not be able to catch the emperor and several princes.

In the courtyard, King Ping's cronies were almost dead, and there were only a dozen or so left who swore to defend King Ping. The emperor also came out of the side hall at this time, and under the protection of Shilong, he forced King Ping to retreat to the mountain gate.

"King Ping, the general trend has gone, you better tie your hands and arrest it. For the sake of brotherhood, I can spare you from dying. ”

"The tide is gone? Haha, the emperor is still so conceited, do you think I dare to break into the temple gate with a few hundred people? Let me tell you the truth, this Faji Temple has been surrounded by my 50,000 elite soldiers, and if the emperor wants to save his life, he will give up resistance. I can guarantee you that you will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life. ”

"Fifty thousand elite soldiers? Haha, does King Ping refer to my Imperial Guards? ”

King Ping was shocked, and hurriedly turned around to look, and his eyes were full of yellow and oppressive Imperial Forest Army, where was the shadow of his 50,000 elite soldiers?

"What's going on? What about the king's army? "King Ping pulled He Qian, and he couldn't wait to eat him.

"Lord Wang, subordinates...... The subordinates don't know ......."

Beads of sweat broke out on He Gan's head, trembling and lowering his eyebrows, not daring to look into King Ping's eyes.

The emperor laughed at him mockingly: "What? King Ping's elite soldiers missed the appointment? I'm here to tell you where your soldiers have gone. A month ago, I ordered you to capture all your private soldiers hiding outside the city, and send them to the bitter cold of the frontier to fill the army, even if they are loyal and want to come back to serve you, it will be too late for fear of thousands of miles. ”

King Ping slammed He Qian to the ground, pulled out the sword at his waist and ordered loudly: "Withdraw!" ”

King Ping gave an order, all the people of King Ping retreated, the royal forest army in the temple pressed step by step, and the royal forest army outside the mountain gate was heavily surrounded.

Under the internal and external attacks, the conceited King Ping could not help but be afraid.

His gaze swept to Xiao Wenxuan, who was mixed with the guards, stepped forward and pulled it over, put the sword on his neck, and shouted to the emperor: "Your Majesty, see who I am in my hand." If you still want him to live, you'd better listen to me. ”

Xiao Wenxuan left the capital for more than two months, and there was no news, and the emperor guessed that he might be imprisoned by King Ping, but he was still surprised to see Xiao Wenxuan fall into the hands of King Ping.

He ordered the Guards to stand by and asked him, "What do you want?" ”

The emperor saw that Xiao Wenxuan's face was bloodless and powerless to struggle, and his eyes were a little more fierce.

"I think about it, the emperor must know best, if you abolish an arm and give way to me, I will leave him alive, otherwise...... I separate you father and son. ”

King Ping's intentions are very insidious and vicious, he is not only testing the emperor's bottom line, but also exposing the relationship between Xiao Wenxuan and the emperor to everyone.

Sure enough, everyone looked at the emperor in surprise when they heard this, and they were slandering in their hearts, no wonder the emperor treated King Ningjun so favorably, and even cared more than the princes. At the beginning, King Ningjun was framed, and the emperor killed his relatives and imprisoned the second prince for more than a year, and finally released him because of insufficient evidence. If it is placed on others, I am afraid that it is really my own son's doing, and it will turn a big thing into a small matter.

"Father? What did King Ping say? Are you father and son? The second prince was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped.

"Second brother, what nonsense are you talking about, do you believe King Ping's words?" The fifth prince glanced at him dissatisfied.

"Father, King Ningjun is the son of King Ping, he won't do anything to his son, please ask Father to order the killing of this criminal minister who tried to rebel." The fifth prince was originally a clear and weak body, but when he said this, his tone was like ice.

"Your Majesty, the minister advises you to think twice, Zhen Qiao can watch you underground." Seeing that the emperor was not moving, King Ping knew that he was in turmoil, so he deliberately used Zhen Qiao to stimulate him again.

Sure enough, the emperor stared at Xiao Wenxuan opposite for a moment, and when he looked at King Ping again, his expression was mixed.

"I can cut off my arm, or I can give way to you, but you have to keep all my princes safe."

"Father, you can't do this."

"Father's ......"

When the second prince and the third prince heard that the emperor was going to give way and break his arm for the sake of the illegitimate child, they were so angry that they almost burst into foul language. What kind of father is this, for the sake of an illegitimate son who can't see the light, he wants to ruin their lives and futures, and his brain is in water.

King Ping was very proud of his move. The condition he put forward was extremely ruthless, he knew that if the emperor refused, then no matter whether Xiao Wenxuan was dead or alive in the future, he would be depressed in his heart, and he would not be able to forgive the emperor for not saving him. If the emperor really gave up the throne for Xiao Wenxuan's broken arm, then wouldn't he sit back and enjoy it.